Via Marcus Keene and Maurice Kemp shots Kalev forced clutch – 72:75 with 2 minutes left. However, the Estonians had no energy for that. Via Juskevicius and Zukauskas efforts PARMA made 5-0 run that became victorious.
On the start of the final quarter Hilliard hit another three and increased the gap to 14 points. Anyway, Joesaar answered with 11 points in 3 minutes and Keene-Kemp duo supported his efforts. Kalev took the lead and started growing the differential showing perfect ball movement.
The game was decided in the clutch. A minute and a half before the final buzzer Kalev cut the gap to 4 points. But Estonians couldn’t score in a few next possessions. Rolands Freimanis buried the intrigue: guests’ forward put an and-one dunk with 27 seconds left and Zielona Gora’s lead increased to 7 points.
Janis Kaufmanis. Having a poor first half in the second he became a true MVP. He scored 15 points in the final quarter.
The teams approached the game on opposite places in the table. Kalev (1-7) after 3 consecutive defeats are second worst team, and Zenit (10-1) with a 3-game winning streak lead.
The intrigue expired on the start of the fourth. Mikhailovskii and Markel Starks’ accurate shots started another hosts’ run. Avtodor gained 21-point advantage easily – 77:56. After it the game was decided.
Nizhny Novgorod were up to please the fans and they started at the high pace. Ivan Strebkov hit the three a few seconds after the starting whistle and didn’t stop, the guard scored 10 of the first 11 team points. Kalev took the chasing team status from the very beginning.
UNICS defense leave no chance for Kalev
Before the game, both teams were strenghtened by national teams leaders. Artsiom Parakhouski and Janari Joesaar were named for the game and the latter got starting five of Kalev.
Shortly before the game, Khimki announced new roster losses as Janis Timma, Evgeny Voronog and Jordan Mickey tested presumptive positive for coronavirus.
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